Kosovo Hacker Gets 20 Years In U.S. Prison For Helping IS Militants

A citizen of Kosovo has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for hacking the personal data of some 1,300 members of the U.S. government and military and sending it to Islamic State (IS) militants.

The U.S. Justice Department said on September 23 that Ardit Ferizi was arrested in Malaysia in 2015 and extradited to the United States.

It said in a statement that Ferizi, 20, pleaded guilty to the charges against him in a Virginia federal court in June.

"This case represents the first time we have seen the very real and dangerous national security cyberthreat that results from the combination of terrorism and hacking," the Justice Department statement said.

Court documents said that Ferizi -- who is also known as Th3Dir3ctorY -- hacked the computer server of a U.S. online retailer last year and stole personal information of about 1,300 U.S. military personnel and federal officials.

He then gave the list to British hacker Junaid Hussain, who the Justice Department described as "a now-deceased [IS] recruiter and attack facilitator."

Hussain posted a threatening tweet in August 2015 that said: "We are in your e-mails and computer systems, watching and recording your every move, we have your names and addresses."